COMMENTARY: The way we cover news is evolving with social media.

When news first came across the scanner about a plane crashing into a building, we waited until we had confirmation before sending out the information across any platform. We used Twitter as another source to keep updated on the unfolding events.

The first tweet on @News8Austin went out at 10:08 a.m. The information was quickly picked up and reposted on Twitter several times. As we kept the online and television audience updated, we sent out tweets with the same information. All of the tweets were reposted numerous times.

But keeping people updated is about more than the gratification of being first or watching your tweets get reposted. It’s about delivering an effective message and receiving valuable information.

So for the first time, we dedicated a member of the web staff, Kevyn Oakes, to keep the social media accounts updated and to filter all the information coming in. It was also important to focus on social media to keep a larger audience aware of the latest information.

When we would receive tweets with information, we worked quickly to confirm the reports. By the time officials held the first conference, we had much of their information already confirmed and were working on other leads.

“There’s a lot of speculation. I can tell you right now that those reports are inaccurate and it is irresponsible journalism to put out information that is not confirmed through law enforcement,” said Chief Art Acevedo.

We agree, Chief Acevedo. But law enforcement needs to keep up with the speed of citizen journalism using social media.

It was citizen journalists using new media who directed mainstream news organizations to Joe Stack’s anti-government note, which turned the story from a local tragedy to one of national and international importance.

Our news policy prevents us from spreading information we don’t have confirmed, so we sat on the note until we confirmed Stack owned the site. And even then, we talked about how to report on the note’s contents. With everything we tweeted, we stayed committed to being respectful, factual, and sensitive.

Some of the first visuals we received from the scene were from Twitter user @coloursmarie. The photo was immediately put online and used on air. Once crews began arriving on scene, they began sending us photos via their Blackberry.

Web producer Anne Szilagyi’s job was to report back with visuals. We began building a photo gallery on the online photo-sharing site Flickr.com.

We know with Flickr, like Twitter, people often turn to the site to find visuals of breaking news. This was the case when a plane landed in the Hudson River.

By using sites that have a world-wide audience, we were also able to bring the news from our hometown to a larger audience. And we’ll use some of the lessons we learned yesterday to tell a better story tomorrow.

Web Producers Kevyn Oakes and Anne Szilagyi contributed to this report.